Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 279,132 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 1.9%, acquiring an additional 279,132 shares, bringing its total to 14,862,649 shares valued at approximately $2.32 billion.
• Insiders sold a total of 274,819 shares of Alphabet stock in the last quarter, amounting to about $49.8 million in value.
• Alphabet recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, which is set to be paid on September 15th, reflecting a 0.4% dividend yield.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,862,649 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 279,132 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.6% of Dimensional Fund Advisors LP's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.12% of Alphabet worth $2,321,857,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Graybill Wealth Management LTD. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.23, for a total value of $6,377,475.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,494,892 shares in the company, valued at $489,572,657.16. This trade represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,656,704. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 274,819 shares of company stock valued at $49,796,547 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded up $1.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $204.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,099,072 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,037,520. The stock has a market cap of $2.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $185.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.87.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 target price (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.